ANDREA PALLADIO: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, ARCHITECTURAL WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2024

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) was considered one of the most important Italian architects during his time in Italy. His work consisted in the creation of villas and mansions. In addition, he was the author of The Four Books of Architecture (published in 1570), a work that had a great impact on the Western world.

Curiously, the importance of Palladio increased after his death. As the eighteenth century passed, a movement that bore his name was born, Palladianism (or Palladianism). In countries such as England or the United States the impact of his ideas began to be felt, an influence that lasted for several centuries.

Source: Alessandro Maganza, via Wikimedia Commons.

One of his most relevant bets had to do with demonstrating that the same architectural principles could be used in works of great magnitude, such as churches or temples, and in the simplest works, such as houses. That is why the Palladian dwellings had porticos, an element that was only common to see in temples or religious buildings.

His importance for world architecture could also be observed in the large number of designs and plans of his authorship that still exist.

Biography

Palladio was born on November 30, 1508. Padua was his city of origin, which at that time was part of the Republic of Venice, in northern Italy. Until the age of 16 he stayed in Padua where he could learn about art from a local sculptor.

Then his life passed in Vicenza, he became a bricklayer and began to work in different places. Although he always focused on monumental art and sculptures.

Nickname

Palladio's real name at birth was Andrea Di Pietro della Góndola. It was the poet Gian Giorgio Trissino who was guilty of the nickname, which he received when the architect was already 30 years old.

Everything was born from a comparison that was made of Andrea with Pallas Athena, the goddess who was associated with wisdom and ability.

Death

The architect died in Vicenza, in August 1580. Due to his death, many of his works remained unfinished. His pupils were the ones who had to be in charge of finishing some of his work.

For example, Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548-1616) was commissioned to complete Villa Capra, which was also called Villa la Rotonda. The same happened with the Olympic Theater, whose construction began in 1580 and ended five years later.

The Basilica of Vicenza, or Basilica Palladiana, was only completed 34 years after Palladio's death.

Influence

The publication The Art of Building, written by the architect Leon Battista Alberti and published in 1485, was a great inspiration for Palladio. This treatise was based largely on the ideas of Marco Vitruvius for Roman architecture of the 1st century BC. C.

Palladio came to define Vitruvius as his mentor, although they obviously did not share the same era.

In the middle of the 16th century, Palladio traveled to Rome for the second time with his friend Gian Giorgio Trissino. The Roman works were a great source of inspiration for the architect.

He was impressed with the work of other Italian colleagues such as Donato di Pascuccio (1443-1514), Baldassarre (1481-1536) and Raphael (1483-1520), although all of them were much more remembered for their works as painters.

Style

Palladio's works were not characterized by proposing new ideas as happened with other artists of the time. The Italian focused on the construction of different buildings such as churches, houses or bridges.

His work was mainly concentrated in the Republic of Venice and in Vicenza. The raw material that he chose for the construction of his works was not expensive. Palladio chose materials such as plaster and bricks.

Palladianism

Palladio's influence was so great that an architectural style bears his name. It started in the 16th century, but its great height as an art movement occurred a century later in England.

It was the movement that replaced the Baroque style and preceded Neoclassicism. It was also a current with a great presence in the American continent. Furthermore, when Palladianism began to lose steam in Europe, it gained importance in the United States, although with a different objective.

In the United Kingdom, Palladianism was characterized by the building of works that could demonstrate power and wealth, while in the United States it was the colonial style.

One of the elements that stood out the most in this style could be observed in the entries of the works. They were simple constructions, although always with the presence of columns. Additionally, symmetry was an ever-present factor in Palladio's designs.

Some historians refer to Palladianism as a style that sought to take care of the forms of classical architecture.

In Europe this movement lost steam at the end of the 18th century, although in America it remained an influential style for much longer.

Architectural works

Palladio started late with the creation of works of his own authorship. It was in 1537, near his 30th birthday, that he began his first solo work when he designed the Villa Godi. This construction was completed in 1542 and was commissioned by the Godi family.

In Villa Godi the most important characteristics of Palladianism are not yet observed. For example, it lacks the symmetry typical of Palladio's works and the presence of ornamental elements is almost nil. It is for all this that some historians affirm that this villa was not entrusted to Palladio directly.

Currently, Villa Godi is one of his works that can be visited and that has a museum where you can find fossils and information about the flora and fauna of the place.

In addition, among his most important works are several constructions that were completed after his death, such as the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore or the Church of the Redeemer, both in Venice.

His architectural works are concentrated between Venice and the city of Vicenza. The villas were among his most repeated designs by other architects.

Villa Capra

It also received the name of Villa la Rotonda. It is probably the most famous of those made by Palladio and one of the most repeated by architects of all time. It was a request made by the religious Paolo Almerico and the design was motivated by Roman architecture.

In 1566 the project began, but Palladio never saw his work completed. Villa Capra was ready to live in 1569, but it was his pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi who was commissioned to complete the work with a dome in the central part of the design.

It was named as Capra by the owners that the Villa later had.

Chiericati Palace

It was named after Girolamo Chiericati, who commissioned Palladio for the construction work. The work began in 1550. In the plans it can be seen how the interior was divided into three stripes, which gives symmetry to the design. The front stood out for the use of columns on both floors.

In more recent years this building served as a museum for the city of Vicenza.

Thiene Palace

The reconstruction of this mansion took place between 1545 and 1550. The name is for the family that commissioned Palladio for the renovation project. The plan designed by Palladio was never fully carried out. Among other things, Palladio was unable to finish the patio.

It was one of the most complicated works of the Italian architect, partly due to the death of one of the Thiene brothers just during the renovation of the palace. At present it is the headquarters of the Banco Popular de Vicenza, being possible to visit its interior.

Book

After 20 years of its first construction, which was the Villa Capra, Palladio summed up all his knowledge in a publication that he titled The Four Books of Architecture. As the name suggests, they were a collection of four books published in 1570 in Venice.

This publication was the one that really brought Palladio worldwide fame. The importance of the book resulted in a large number of new editions. The second edition came out 11 years later and at the beginning of the 17th century a new edition was published, something that was repeated over time.

The rise of the book came with its translation into English. This happened in 1715 and caused that the influence of Palladio in the United Kingdom was very important.

First book

Palladio delved into the materials that were used in constructions. He also wrote about the techniques and delved into some of the common elements in his designs, such as the use of columns. It is basically an exhibition of the tools and qualities necessary to work.

Second book

In this part of the publication Palladio delved into the design of houses. It featured many of the plans used by the architect during his work.

Third book

It had more to do with the construction of works in public spaces or that had a religious purpose. He spoke of bridges and basilicas.

Fourth book

Although throughout the publication he made reference to Roman works, in this part of The Four Books of Architecture he delved much more about the temples of this time and their reconstruction process. The Pantheon was one of the buildings to which he dedicated more space.

Other publications

Although The Four Books of Architecture was his most important and influential work, it was neither the first nor the only one. He published four more books.

Two of his written works had the city of Rome as their central focus, where he reviewed the remains and reconstructions of many works. These books served as a kind of archaeological guide to the city.

His work was completed with comments and introductions in books by other authors.

Importance

The relevance of Palladio is very noticeable, since the designs and ideas of the Italian were copied over and over again over the years. In addition, the publication of The Four Books of Architecture had a great impact among professionals in the area.

During the 90s, more than 20 villas designed by Andrea Palladio were classified as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Among the villas declared as Heritage are: Villa Trissino, Gazzotti, Capra, Chiericati, Godi, Thiene, Valmarana, Zeno, Emo and 15 more.

References

1. Barbieri, F. (1970). The basilica of Andrea Palladio. London: University Park.
2. Beyer, A. (2009). Andrea Palladio, Olympic Theater. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag.
3. Palladio, A. (1729). Andrea Palladio's five orders of architecture. London: Printed for S. Harding.
4. Palladio, A. (2013). The Four Books of Architecture. Newburyport: Dover Publications.
5. Williams, K., Giaconi, G. and Palladio, A. (2003). The villas of Palladio. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.